Just Believe
by ChibiKyriaki
Summary: A short story about Rosalia, Albert, and an injured Monarch butterfly.


Just an old story. It's horrible, so I apologize. XD;

Trauma Team – Just Believe.

By: YakushiHarunoFangirl / Sheru/ ChibiKyriaki

"Dad! Dad, come over here!"

"Hmm? What is it, Rosalia? Did you find something?"

"I found this! It's this odd looking, flower…I don't think I've seen It around here before. Do you recognize it from anywhere?" The young girl gently handed it to her father, who examined the delicate flower carefully. He squinted his eyes as he carefully took in every detail. After a moment of deep thought, he turned around to his daughter. "Why, this is a blossomed Milkweed flower, Rose. They are quite common in areas like these." He smiled, handing the flower back to his daughter, who deeply examined it.

"Really? But, I've never seen them around here before now…" Rosalia looked around her, searching the vast flower field carefully with her eyes. She had seen hundreds of different types of flowers in this field ever since she and her father had moved into a tiny cottage that lied directly in the middle of it. But she had never seen this Milkweed flower before. The more she thought and thought, the more she seemed confused. Her father, Albert Sartre, saw this and placed his hand on Rosalia's shoulder. "How about I show you a special place where they grow? It's not too far from where we are now." Rosalia's face brightened with excitement. "I'd love to, dad!" She quickly jumped up and grabbed her father's hand. He smiled, and began to walk with her.

They walked over a large, rolling hillside, and approached a thick line of evergreen trees. Rosalia peered in between the trees, seeing a small pathway. "That's so odd! I don't remember ever seeing this area before." She looked around her, birds on the tree's branches. They were singing beautiful songs, and she wished that she could too. "Sometimes…we must look carefully around ourselves, Rosalia. We may not see something the first time we look, but that does not mean it doesn't exist." He smiled. She looked up at him, admiring her father's poetic words. "That's really pretty, dad."

"That's sweet of you to say. Thank you, Rose."

"You're welcome! I hope someday I can be all brilliant as you are!" Rosalia grinned, her face lighting up in the fading evening sky.

Albert smiled back at her. "I'm sure you will be a very successful young woman in the future." He looked back at the path in front of them. "Ah, we've arrived."

"Huh?" Rosalia said. She looked in front of her, and saw a large and beautiful patch of the Milkweed plant, and all of them had blossomed. Her face brightened, and she let go of her father's hand, and ran directly to the blossoms. She knelt down, and began to admire them, her eyes bright and seemingly glittering with happiness.

"Wow…there are so many…" she sighed.

"And so there will be many more. There are still many that have yet to bloom."

Rosalia looked carefully and saw that he was right; many of the Milkweeds had not yet bloomed. They would most likely be blooming in the next couple of days. After admiring the flowers, Rosalia got an Idea. She turned to her father.

"Hey, I have the greatest Idea, dad!" She beamed.

"Oh? May I ask what it might be?" He asked.

"Okay, so you know how this whole patch will be fully blossomed soon, right? Well, when they are, maybe we can bring my brother here to see them! And we can even invite that girl who helped me out at the orphanage! She'd be glad to come down here and see them!" She turned back around and began picking Milkweed blossoms one by one. Albert let out a small gasp.

"R-rose…" He began. His voice was filled with deeply regret.  
"Hmm? Is…Is something wrong…?" She turned back around, sensing this regret in his voice. Her eyes widened out of curiosity.  
"…I don't think that your brother will be able to see them…" He looked down.

"Huh? But, why? I'm sure he won't be very busy!" She said, raising her voice.

"He wouldn't mind! Really, he'd love to come visit us!"

"Your…your father did something to your brother, Rose. Something horrible…" He said.

"What do you mean? Did you two get into a fight…? T-that's alright, you two can still apologize to each other and then-"

"I don't think it's that simple, Rose…Your brother could never forgive me…"

"Don't…don't say that dad!" Rosalia said loudly, firmly standing her ground. "I know that even if brother got mad at you, that deep down he still loves you and cares about you!" She lowered her head. "Plus, I haven't even seen him since we moved…I miss him…so much…" her voice trailed off.

"…Rose…I know you do, but…things are complicated right now…" Albert said quietly. If Rosalia had known what Albert had done, she might find herself unable to forgive him as well.

"Everything will be okay, dad! I promise you!" She looked back up, showing that she had started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I promise…things will be okay…"

Albert didn't say a thing. Seeing his daughter crying made him feel worse than he had ever felt before.

After a silent moment, Albert looked up at Rosalia, and smiled.

"You are right…thank you, my Little Rose." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure that your brother and his friend would love to come down here see the flowers."

Rosalia began to smile again, and she wiped her face with her arm.

"I told you! All you have to do is talk to him! Things between you two will get better after that happens!"

Albert let out a small laugh. "I promise you I will speak to your brother very, very soon."

"Thank you so much, dad! That would probably mean the word to him!" She stood up and twirled. "I can't wait to see him!"

Albert let out another small laugh. "And I'm sure that he will be very glad to see you."

"You think so, dad?" Rosalia twirled again, facing Albert as she was stopping herself with her left foot. She had a wide smile spread across her face.

He patted his daughter's head. "I know so." Rosalia giggled and twirled once again.

After around fifteen minutes, Albert looked over his shoulder at the skyline. It was a thin gradient of orange and purple, the sun sinking lower and lower. It was probably about time that they get home and start making dinner. Plus he needed to check on his latest experiment in the lab basement.

"Rosalia, we should head back home now." He said, lightly tapping her shoulder.

Rosalia stopped twirling and nodded, "Okay, dad." She knelt down and picked up her bouquet of Milkweed blossoms from her feet. Albert began slowly walking back, and Rosalia was close behind him. However, as she caught up to her father, something caught her eye. She could something small, but clearly out of her peripheral vision. She quickly turned, seeing what she thought was a butterfly. A Monarch butterfly. It was perched on the top of an unpicked Milkweed blossom, but something didn't seem right. She squinted her eyes, and saw that the insect's left wing was horribly twisted, its other wing riddled with holes. It was trying it's hardest to fly, but with its injuries, It would be impossible. Rosalia dropped her bouquet and ran over the butterfly quickly. Hearing her quick footsteps, Albert stopped and turned around. He was surprised to see Rosalia kneeling own on the ground. His first thought was that she was injured. He quickly ran over to her, saying, "Rosalia! Are you alright?" He caught up to her, seeing no visible injuries on her. This was a huge relief, but he still wondered why she had stopped. "Dad…" Rosalia said quietly, a hint of sadness in her voice. 'What is it, Rose?" Rosalia turned around, revealing that she was holding an injured Monarch butterfly in her hands. One wing was torn, the other twisted around, ruining any chance of being able to fly again. "It's hurt dad…" she said, looking at the butterfly, which was crawling in her palms.

Albert looked at the injured monarch in Rosalia's hands. He could clearly see that the poor insect must have been played with by a wild animal. He stood silent for a moment, until Rosalia began to speak. "We've got to help him, dad…" The butterfly's legs felt prickly in her hands, but she didn't mind.

"Rose…"Albert began. He wanted to tell her how there was no hope for the injured butterfly, but he would never put her feelings for any living thing down. "…I'm afraid there's nothing we can do…" he finally said.

"W-what do you mean…? O-of course we can help him!" Rosalia said, her voice shaking slightly. "We can take him back to our house, and let him rest and-"

"I'm afraid that he is too injured Rose…he wouldn't survive very long, even if we were to help him…I'm sorry." Albert felt as if what he had just said to his daughter had been the toughest thing he'd said to her. He hated that nothing could be done.

"…We can't even try?" Rosalia said, her voice lowering. "We have to…he can't just stay out here and die!" she looked up, showing that tears once again ran down her cheeks. "He must be in so much pain…"

The butterfly continued to move about in her hands, and when it would almost fall off, Rosalia would reposition the insect safely in the middle of her hand.

Albert couldn't stand to see his daughter sad, so he made a decision.

"Alright, Rose…I do believe that we can give this poor butterfly a chance to recover safely at home." He smiled.

Rosalia's face brightened up instantly, and she wiped a tear from her cheek. "Thank you dad…I'm glad you think there's still a chance." She smiled back. She looked down at the monarch and said "Hear that? Dad's going to let you stay with us and recover!" The butterfly wiggled and brushed itself slightly against her cheek.

"…I believe that anything is possible as long as you keep your faith. Do you believe so, Rose?" Albert said, looking at his daughter with warm eyes.

"Of course I do!" She said, determined. "As long as you believe in yourself and others, anything is possible!"

"You're a very bright young woman, then." He said, eyeing the butterfly in her hands. Perhaps it would be best to give the monarch another chance at living…

"Let's get you home!" Rosalia said to the butterfly, happily. "You can stay in my room, and that way you'll be safe!". She began to walk towards home, humming a song to herself. Albert followed, picking up the bouquet of flowers that Rosalia had dropped. They both walked together.

"…Hey dad…" Rosalia said.

"Yes, what is it?" Albert responded.

"Anything is possible…which means that big brother can forgive you…you just need to believe…" she said, looking at the bright sun, which was sinking low behind the mountains.

Albert stopped, and looked at his daughter with a slightly shocked expression. Rosalia kept walking, until she realized that her father was not following. "Dad…?" she said, turning around.

Albert stood deep in thought, taking in his daughter's words. After a moment, he snapped back to reality.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Rosalia said, this time sounding worried.

Albert walked over to his daughter and out a large hand on her shoulder. "Nothing, Rose…but I do believe that you are right…I'm sure your brother will forgive me…I just need to believe that he will…" he smiled.

"That's the spirit!" Rosalia cheered, smiling brightly. "Anyways…Let's get home…I'm starving!"

Albert let out a small laugh. "Alright. Let's go home now."

Rosalia giggled and walked over to her father. She took his spare hand with her spare one, and began to slowly walk towards home.

"One question, dad…what's for dinner?" She asked, her stomach letting out a growl.

"Well…I'm not sure, Rose. We'll have to see what we have when we get home." Albert said.

"Okay then! I think we should look in some of those old cookbooks that we haven't used yet!"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Albert smiled.

The two continued on home, hand in hand, Rosalia still holding the butterfly carefully in her other hand. She knew that the monarch would soon be able to fly happily over the flower fields once again. She also knew that no matter what, her brother would forgive her father for whatever he had done.

All he had to do was believe.


End file.
